A fully funded Kickstarter campaign doesn’t automatically make for a successful game.
Belgian studio Grin has closed its doors after admitting that it can’t complete the gorgeous-looking cinematic platformer Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries, which promised an alternative take on the classic Little Red Riding Hood story. Grin raised $72,000 through crowdfunding in September last year and had intended to release Woolfe on PC this year.
It’s another example of Kickstarter campaign that’s gone wrong following a successful fundraising period, and it leaves over 2,000 backers out of pocket. While perhaps not as significant as the folding of award-winning author Neal Stephenson’s $500,000 swordfighting game, Clang, this latest Kickstarter misadventure offers a cautionary tale to game developers relying on crowdfunding dollars (and to their potential backers).
“There is no way back,” reads an update on Kickstarter from Grin’s founder, Wim Wouters. “We tried; we failed. The team is now dismantled, and we have requested bankruptcy, unable to pay outstanding bills.
“I guess our public silence the last few months already said a lot. It is not out of disrespect that our communication dropped to almost zero … it is out of shame. It is truly devastating to read the negative comments we received [from] some press and players. With Woolfe being the most passion-driven thing we have ever created, it feels horrible to live with the feeling we let you down.”
Grin is not a young studio. It’s been going since 2002, mainly making games for external clients, and Woolfe was the team’s big passion project. It turned into a nightmare, though, as Grin couldn’t match its own ambition, and the game failed to sell well — while still in development — on Steam’s Early Access platform.
“The optimist in me led me to believe we could actually pull off making a ‘bigger’ indie game,” said Wouters. “I really wanted to prove an indie game did not have to be rendered in pixels or stylized as a solution to cut development costs. I wanted to believe that a team of six to 10 people could make a game that looked and felt triple-A. Boy, was I wrong!”
Grin is unable to send out physical rewards to its backers even though many are actually in hand. Wouters says he simply can’t afford to pay the postage to ship them out.
“Never stop doing what you’re doing,” said Wouters. “You have the power to make your dreams come true, but beware of the pitfalls. Beware what you risk; you do not want to be in my position now. You do not want to lose everything you worked so hard for.”